Deking Out Distractions

This post is dedicated to AJ who is abandoning the cultural buffet of Prague for the Czech countryside in order to find some peace n' quiet.

Had a brief email exchange with him yesterday, and he told me there were "distractions." Although he didn't get specific about the flavour of distractions he's dealing with at the moment. But really, it doesn't matter. When you are distractable, the hole in your sock can throw you off course.

Staying focused is one of the hardest things to do when you are reaching for a big goal. Keeping your eyes on the prize is tough when a lot of the time 'the prize' feels nebulous, far-far-away, sometimes even impossible to reach. Especially if it's summer and cold beers or girls in short skirts keep walking by. Or if it's winter and it's too cold to write/paint/run. Or autumn when the falling leaves, uh, get in your eyes. Or spring with those goddamn flowers.

You get my point. Distractions will always, always be there.

You can tell yourself that some distractions are more okay than others. Going museum-hopping in Prague or Paris is easier to justify than drooling in front of any of Gordon Ramsay's seven hundred Food Network shows. But when you have work to do, and you know it, it's all the same.

When you go to write in a delicious locale, the 'I really should see the city' devil will inevitably start hanging out on your shoulder at some point. The thing is, it's no different than the 'Oh, a second pint won't hurt' devil or the 'I'll catch up with work/sleep/cello practice on the weekend' one.

Distractions are excuses made external.

And the only way to deal with them is to look them in the eye, tell them you are chasing down a dream and get back to work.

When I was training for Ironman, I actually started saying that to anyone or anything that tried to throw me off course. "Gotta go. I'm chasing down a dream." I must tell you, friends, this really works. It immediately puts people on their heels because they expected something lame like, "I have to work in the morning."

But it also creates an air of awe and excitement. Your dream is bigger than you. And bigger than that dude who wants to buy you another beer. You are on a mission. People can't help but respect that.

Listen, sorry to cut this off, but I've gotta go. I'm chasing down a dream.